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I always liked the Guild D55's and wondered how the quality of the Fender made ones? I heard that when Fender first took over the Guilds when they were made in R.I they weren't great quality. I know now that the Guilds are made in the Tacoma factory and wondered how they are?

My Guild D55 With Dtar is a 2007 Tacoma built guitar. I like it a lot, it is really solidly built and great detail. Very full sound. The neck is a bit baseball battish compared to my Taylor or martin but is non the less fun to play. I have no negative things to say regarding quality at all, solid, nice craftsmanship, top notch fretwork, finish inlays etc. Pickup system is very nic, EXCEPT I hate the controls in the soundhole as live you cannot use a feedback buster rubber insert, so it is not as easy to control as the Taylor.

I just bought a Tacoma-made Ice-Tea Burst D-55 over the phone. I have to say, it was a disappointing experience. I've heard so many great things about Guilds, but the guitar sounded muted and dead. Furthermore, there wasn't something quite right on the fingerboard, so I took it into my local repair shop, and sure enough, the fret wires were pulling up right out of board. The guy at the repair shop asked me if it was an Asian-made guitar. When I replied that it was American-made, he couldn't believe it. I returned the guitar for a full-credit. I'm sort of getting turned off to the whole experience, and just may go through life without one of these, although they are pleasing to the eye.

I wish this hadn't happened, but it did. Now mind you, if I could find a great D-55 in a store I'd reconsider. But I'm just not going to go the telephone order route again. And the D-55's are so rarely stocked in stores, it always seems like it's a special order anyway. I would have really preferred one in the Ice-Tea Burst, but I understand that this color has been discontinued. I'd like the Antique Sunburst also, but not quite as much.

I could be wrong on this, but I did speand alot of time on the Guild forum before purchasing my Guilds,a F212 XT,'76 Rhode Island F45CE and the Chinese made GAD 20.
The Rhode Island made Guilds are very much coveted by players and collectors.
Before RI they were made in New York, after RI they went to Corona (when Fender bought them ) where apparently the quality really went down hill and finally they moved to Tacoma where apparently quality has taken a big upturn.
solomio

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